Cutting-Edge Technology R&D Center

Chapter 31: Back into the Mountains

It took Wang Hao some time to carry the books down. Everyone who could have helped him was busy at the moment: Fang Bing had gone out into the wilderness to livestream—for the sake of their drone venture and for Fang Bing’s own dream of the wilderness—while Zhang Xin and Zhang Nan were undergoing their summer training, assembling drones. After thinking it over, he called Lan Wei. He wanted to see if she had come down from the mountains yet. Although the chances of reaching her there were slim—since there was no electricity in the mountains, her phone would likely be dead if she’d been there long enough, and, most importantly, there was no cell service. To his surprise, the call went through immediately. “Teacher, do you need help carrying things up the mountain?” Lan Wei knew that if his teacher was calling him, it was surely to ask for help moving things—otherwise, he wouldn’t have called at all. “Right. Where are you now?” Wang Hao chuckled; it seemed that aside from using him as a laborer, he really didn’t have much else to ask of Lan Wei. “I just got out and was about to head back to Lanjia Village.” “No wonder. Why don’t you wait for me? I bought some books—could you help me carry a few of them up?” Wang Hao said, glancing at the pile of books filling the living room. No matter how strong he was, he couldn’t possibly move all those books by himself in one go. He had already made countless trips back and forth, moving most of them to an unused wood shed downstairs. Longnao had just moved his setup; for now, it was only on the graphics workstation. The rack servers hadn’t been interconnected yet, and there was still the task of entering data into the drone’s central control chip. He had plenty of unfinished business, so he wanted to save as much time as possible. Moreover, he planned that once he delivered the books to the mountains this time, he likely wouldn’t be returning there for a while, since he’d taught nearly everything he needed to, and he also needed to think about optimizing Longnao. However, the considerable distance to Lanjia Village was giving him a bit of a headache regarding how to transport the books there. As someone accustomed to frugality, he really didn’t want to rent a car. Just then, a knock sounded at the door. He instinctively checked the time—it was only around 10:00 a. m. There was no way Zhang Xin and Zhang Nan could be back yet, especially since he’d explicitly told them he wouldn’t return until at least that evening and that they should eat lunch and dinner out. “Hello, Director Zhao.” Wang Hao opened the door and looked at the person standing there with some surprise—it was actually the director of the Admissions Office at Yan’da University. “I apologize for the unannounced visit. Are you home alone?” After glancing around the room, a hint of disappointment flashed in Zhao Chun’s eyes. He’d gone to great lengths to track down Wang Hao’s residence specifically to try to brainwash his parents, but as they say, man proposes, God disposes—it turned out Wang Hao was home alone. Wang Hao, on the other hand, lit up when he saw the Director of Admissions from Yan’da University. “Director Zhao, you don’t have a car,” Wang Hao asked. “I don’t have a car, but I have friends in Gancheng who might be able to lend me one. What do you need it for?” Zhao Chun thought for a moment before replying. If it wasn’t too much to ask, he’d be happy to help—at the very least, it would leave Wang Hao with a favorable impression of him. “To transport some things,” Wang Hao said with a smile. “Xiao Hao, what are you going to do with all these books?” Zhao Chun sat in the driver’s seat—he’d borrowed the car from a friend in Gancheng. After loading all the books into the car, he was a bit out of breath. Seeing that they were all books aimed at a younger age group, he asked curiously. “They’re gifts,” Wang Hao said softly from the passenger seat. Under Wang Hao’s directions, they headed toward Lanjia Village, while Zhao Chun chatted with Wang Hao in fits and starts. Meanwhile, in a village on the outskirts of the mountains, a stylish, attractive woman was peering out curiously, followed by two men. “This must be the only path into the mountains that Boss Qian mentioned. And he said there’s a very high chance Wang Hao will be heading into the mountains today,” Sun Yan said, a hint of excitement in her eyes as she stared intently at the passing villagers. The villagers, noticing Sun Yan’s vibrant attire and striking presence, couldn’t help but glance at her a few extra times. “Sister Xiao Yan, do you really have a big scoop here?” one of the men following Sun Yan asked, sounding a bit puzzled. He glanced around, as if trying to spot what exactly made this such a big story. “Xiao Fei, be patient,” Sun Yan smiled. “Hey, isn’t that… Lan Wei?” Sun Yan’s eyes lit up as she immediately spotted a young man who had appeared in the village. His features vaguely matched those of Lan Wei from the news she’d seen a year ago, though he looked much more mature now. Upon seeing Lan Wei, she was overjoyed and felt completely confident—Wang Hao was sure to show up soon. This was the last village along the road, called Tianjia Village. Any further down the road was nothing but mountain trails, and Lanjia Village lay deep within those mountains. “Grab the camera equipment… Wait a minute.” Sun Yan had originally intended to interview Lan Wei, but as she watched a car appear in the distance and slowly pull up beside Lan Wei, she looked at the people inside—and to her surprise, one of them was none other than Wang Hao. After Wang Hao called out a greeting from the car, Lan Wei went into a local’s home. She then emerged carrying two carrying poles and four wicker baskets, walking toward Wang Hao, whose car was already parked. “Huh… that’s Lan Wei.” Zhao Chun had been driving and hadn’t noticed who Wang Hao was talking to, but after parking, as he watched Lan Wei approach him, he recognized her at a glance—wasn’t she the top student from Xijiang Province whom they’d recruited last year? “Director Zhao…” Lan Wei glanced at Zhao Chun. He’d met Zhao Chun when he first arrived at Yan’da University, but he hadn’t expected to see him here. He then looked at Wang Hao, and it suddenly dawned on him: a teacher is a teacher—even the people sent to recruit him were on a different level. Last year, only a teacher from the admissions office had come for him; she never expected that this year, a director would actually make the trip. “Hello, Lan Wei,” Zhao Chun felt a surge of excitement. With Lan Wei here, things would be much easier to handle. After exchanging greetings with Zhao Chun, Lan Wei walked over to Wang Hao, who was organizing books in the trunk of the car, and softly uttered a remark that left Zhao Chun utterly speechless: “Teacher, there are so many.” Zhao Chun stared at Lan Wei in astonishment. He’d spoken with her during orientation, and she’d mentioned back then that it was thanks to a teacher’s guidance that he’d become the top student at Xijiang. Zhao Chun recalled that Lan Wei had said something similar during a news interview. At the time, he hadn’t been able to confirm or deny it—after all, Lan Wei hadn’t mentioned any names and had only revealed that the teacher was younger than him, which made it hard for him to believe. “Lan Wei actually wasn’t lying.” Zhao Chun stared blankly at the two people discussing how to move the items, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind: Lan Wei hadn’t lied… Thinking about Wang Hao’s perfect score on the college entrance exam and combining it with Lan Wei’s words, this thought grew stronger and stronger, until he was almost certain of it.